Today the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency updated its guidelines for identifying the “essential critical infrastructure workforce” to include vehicle manufacturing and sales, including the supply chain, in is Version 3.0 document. Specifically, the Agency’s guidance document updated the section on “Transportation and Logistics” to include:

“Workers critical to the manufacturing, distribution, sales, rental, leasing, repair, and maintenance of vehicles and other transportation equipment (including electric vehicle charging stations) and the supply chains that enable these operations to facilitate continuity of travel-related operations for essential workers.”

Previously, the auto manufacturing and sales sector were not included in the Agency’s guidance. The guidance is advisory in nature but state governments have looked to the Agency’s guidance in defining critical infrastructure workers. In Michigan, Governor Whitmer adopted the definition of critical infrastructure workers from the previous version of the Agency’s guidance, Version 2.0, in Executive Order 2020-42. However, the current Executive Order specifically did not adopt future versions of the Agency’s guidance:

“8. For purposes of this order, critical infrastructure worker are those workers described by the Director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in his guidance of March 19, 2020 on the COVID-19 response. This order does not adopt any subsequent guidance document released by this same agency.”

Therefore, currently, Michigan has not yet adopted the new guidance and a further Executive Order would be needed in order to do so.